PM says sanctions removal can be discussed if Koreas hold talks

South Korea is ready to discuss the possible removal of its sanctions on North Korea if the rival countries hold talks, Seoul's prime minister said Thursday.  The remark by Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo was seen as reflecting Seoul's growing willingness to mend fences with North Korea as well as its continuing call on the communist country to return to the negotiating table.  Since the cross-border sanctions were imposed two months after the North's deadly torpedoing of the South Korean Navy corvet

Feb. 26, 2015

S. Korea, Turkey ink FTA in service, investment

South Korea and Turkey on Thursday signed a free trade agreement in the investment and service sectors that will complement their bilateral trade pact that went into effect nearly two years ago.  "As the chapters in service and investment have been signed, the Korea-Turkey FTA that has been limited to products will become a comprehensive and high-level FTA," the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said in a press release.  The countries implemented their bilateral FTA for products in May 2013

Feb. 26, 2015

N. Korea says Park gov't to blame for icy bilateral ties

North Korea claimed Thursday South Korea's Park Geun-hye administration is fully responsible for frosty ties between the two sides, calling its inter-Korean policy over the past two years a total failure.  The Rodong Sinmun, Pyongyang's key propaganda organ, accused the Park government of seeking "dialogue intended to harm the North," not sincere talks.  Bilateral dialogue has been suspended because the South demands "dialogue for systemic reunification" in ignorance of the two summit agreements

Feb. 26, 2015

Seoul to consider West Germany’s money-for-prisoner model

Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo said Wednesday he will look into the money-for-prisoner scheme used by former West Germany in tackling the issue of South Korean abductees in North Korea, rekindling concerns about its feasibility.In his debut facing parliamentary questions, Lee pledged to sustain humanitarian matters as a top priority in Seoul’s approach to Pyongyang despite “difficulties” such as bilateral sanctions imposed after the communist country’s fatal attacks on a South Korean corvette and a

Feb. 25, 2015

China urges Japan to 'honestly' deal with wartime aggression

China called for Japan on Wednesday to "honestly" deal with its history of aggression during World War II as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is preparing for a speech marking the 70th anniversary of Tokyo's surrender in the war.   China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hong Lei made the comments as a 16-member panel appointed by Abe held its first meeting in Tokyo earlier in the day to discuss the speech that is expected to be announced on the Aug. 15 anniversary of Japan's surrender.   The muc

Feb. 25, 2015

U.S. believes S. Korea, Japan will find middle ground: official

A senior U.S. diplomat handling relations with South Korea and Japan said Tuesday he is confident the two Asian allies will ultimately find a solution to long-running tensions over historical issues as both sides understand the strategic interests they have in improved ties.  Amb. Sung Kim, deputy assistant secretary of state for Korea and Japan, made the remark during a Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation seminar, saying he would not characterize the current status of relations between Seoul

Feb. 25, 2015

S. Korea, China initial bilateral free trade pact

South Korea and China initialed their free trade agreement Wednesday, taking a step closer to implementing what South Korean officials hail as the most significant trade deal for the country.   The initialing came about three months after the two countries concluded their FTA negotiations that began in May 2012.  The agreement, currently written only in English, will be translated into the two parties' native languages before it is officially signed.  "The two countries' governments have agreed

Feb. 25, 2015

S. Korea, Russia hold talks on N. Korea's nuke issue

South Korea's top nuclear envoy met with his Russian counterpart in Moscow on Tuesday to explore ways to resume the long-stalled six-party talks on ending North Korea's nuclear program, officials said.  The meeting between Hwang Joon-kook and Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Morgulov Igor came amid a flurry of diplomatic efforts by five countries -- South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- to reopen the denuclearization talks.  The six-party negotiations, which also i

Feb. 25, 2015

Koreas to spar over N.K. human rights at U.N. session

South and North Korea are expected to clash over the communist country's human rights conditions at a United Nations meeting in Geneva next week, sources here said Tuesday.  The high-level segment of the 28th session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, scheduled from March 2-5, will draw keen attention as ranking diplomats from the rival Koreas are scheduled to make keynote speeches on the North Korean human rights issue.  Along with the communist country's nuclear arms matter, its human rights is

Feb. 24, 2015

Five middle powers to hold senior officials' meeting this week

South Korea and four other middle powers will hold a senior officials' meeting in Seoul this week in the run-up to a meeting of their foreign ministers slated for late May, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.  MIKTA is an informal cooperative body created by Mexico, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, Turkey and Australia in September 2013 in a bid to enhance coordination on global issues of common interest. The name MIKTA is an acronym of the member nations.  MIKTA plans to have a deputy forei

Feb. 24, 2015

China's FM warns against whitewashing history of aggression

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned against whitewashing "past crimes of aggression" at a United Nations meeting, in a thinly-veiled barb at Japan's nationalistic moves to downplay Tokyo's wartime atrocities.   Wang made the remarks at a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council in New York on Monday as China holds the rotating presidency of the Council this month, according to Wang's speech posted on the Chinese foreign ministry's website.   In his speech, Wang implicitly accused Japan o

Feb. 24, 2015

Seoul vows efforts for headway in N.K. nuke talks

South Korea plans to do its best to achieve "meaningful" progress for the resumption of the long-stalled six-party talks aimed at denuclearizing North Korea, the foreign minister said Tuesday.  The remarks by Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se came as a flurry of diplomatic efforts by five countries to the six-party talks -- South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia -- are under way to explore ways to reopen the denuclearization talks that have been dormant since late 2008.  "Seoul plan

Feb. 24, 2015

S. Korea raps N. Korea over criticism of President Park

South Korea hit back at North Korea on Monday for its renewed verbal attacks on President Park Geun-hye, saying Pyongyang should have good manners despite strained bilateral ties.  Last week, the communist neighbor's main newspaper, the Rodong Sinmun, claimed Park's mouth is an obstacle to inter-Korean relations and the very source of misery.  It was condemning the president's call for the North to choose a path of reform and opening to the outside world.  "Our government expresses serious regre

Feb. 23, 2015

S. Korean envoy heads to Russia for talks on N.K. nukes

South Korea's top nuclear envoy departed for Russia on Monday for talks with his Russian counterpart on ways to resume the long-stalled six-party dialogue on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the foreign ministry here said.  During his three-day trip to Russia, Hwang Joon-kook is scheduled to meet with Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Morgulov Igor on Tuesday to assess recent developments on the Korean Peninsula and explore ways to restart the denuclearization talks, according to

Feb. 23, 2015

Foreign Ministry blasts Japan’s Dokdo event

Seoul on Sunday slammed the Japanese government’s dispatch of a high-level official to a local event designed to stress its claim to the Korean islets of Dokdo. The Shinzo Abe administration sent a vice minister-level official for a third straight year since its launch to the “Takeshima Day” ceremony in Shimane Prefecture attended by some 500 politicians, local government officials and residents. The islets are an “inherent part of Japan’s territory under international law. We will make all-out

Feb. 22, 2015